Underdog Complex
by Black Mary Janes
Summary: Peggy's always been an underdog. Jason's always had an underdog complex. How these tow got together after Final Jam.


**Hello!! So this is my first Camp Rock fic, and most likely my last. I was writing it over the summer trying to alleviate my writer's block, and it didn't really work. It's just a cute little one shot, so enjoy!!  
**

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My mom always said I had an underdog complex.

Shane, she always said, would be the heartthrob. It was always a position he openly embraced, spending much more time in front of a mirror than Nate and me. The screaming girls where like air to him, and he perfected the slightly cocky yet smoldering half-smile that made the hordes of fans waiting everywhere swoon.

Nate, she always said, would be the leader. Being the youngest had no effect on him, as he started bossing me and Shane around from the moment he could talk. Even now, he's the one that the record label thinks to call if something goes wrong. He's the one Shane and I turn to for instructions, and he always has them, ready and waiting.

Me, on the other hand…

I would be the underdog. I would be the quieter one, less noticed. She never said that, because that would be a very un-motherly thing to say, but she meant it. And it's true. I talk the least, mostly because my foot seems permanently attached to my mouth. Nate and Shane steal the spotlight, which I'm fine with. So long as they spare me enough to see my notebook by, I'm fine with sitting in the corner and writing music all day.

Our separate roles showed in every action we performed. Watching the Grammy's, for instance. Nate figured out the logical winner for Album of the Year, and spent most of the night insisting that that would be the winner. Shane knew which one had been all over MTV, and insisted that they would be the winner. Me, I seemed to gravitate towards the one that no one else had heard of, the one that Nate and Shane scorned. I was rarely right, but it didn't matter to me.

My mom always said I had an underdog complex.

-- -- --

Final Jam had come and gone. For real, this time, not the fake-out from Brown and Mitchie. Nate had (not so) gently pulled Shane away from his new love, dragging him down the catwalk and into the little space where we still had deliberating to do.

"That's the girl!" Shane said again. I rolled my eyes.

"Dude, focus." I said.

"Yeah." Nate agreed. "We need to pick a winner." Nate and I exchanged a quick look, and he continued. "Shane, we know who your vote is for, but Jason and I agree that Mitchie didn't actually perform during Final Jam, so she's not in the running."

"Also, having a judge jump out and sing the song with you kind of disqualifies you." I added.

"Okay." He nodded. "So, what did you guys think of Barron and Sander?"

"Wait, hold up." Nate and I just looked at each other, confused. "You're giving up just like that?" I asked.

"Yeah." Shane looked at us, wearing the same expression. "Mitchie was good, but I did kind of ruin it for her. And she was banned from Final Jam, so she can't win anyway. She was just up there making a point, guys." He shook his head. "So, who did you guys like?"

"Well, Tess was good until she ran away." Nate said. "Is she really TJ Tyler's daughter?"

"Yeah, and the spawn of Satan." Shane muttered darkly. "She can't win, though, because she ran away, and that's like, the golden rule of performing."

"Actually, we have to make it the…iron rule." I said.

"Don't start, Jason." Nate rolled his eyes. "No more naming rules after metals, okay?" He decided, looking at me and Shane for consent.

"Yes, Nate." We both mumbled. He grinned, satisfied, then looked through his notes.

I looked down at my own copy of the set list. There were alterations all over it, because, as was actually quite typical at Camp Rock, nothing really went as planned. There was one add-in I had circled about ten times, with comments from the voice to the guitar littering that end of the page. Taking a deep breath, sure that my underdog complex was coming out again, I spoke, steeling myself for the scoffs from my brothers.

"Peggy was pretty good."

There was a stillness, in which both Nate and Shane looked at their notes, then at each other, then finally at me.

"She wasn't good." Nate said, and my heart sank. "She was amazing." I looked up, confused. "She was easily the best tonight. And the biggest surprise. I didn't know she could play anything."

"She started camp the same year we did." Shane explained, indicating me and him. "She was always like she was on stage tonight- you know, the singer/songwriter with the guitar. But then about halfway through the summer, Tess got a hold of her."

"And we all know what happened then." I finished.

"Well, I don't know what happened backstage to make her come out alone like that, but she totally won for me." Nate said. "You guys agree?"

Shane nodded. "She was great." He said. "She kind of summed up what this summer was all about, too." He looked over at me. "What about you, man?"

"I loved her." I said.

Nate laughed. "She was the underdog. Of course he loved her. So we all agree? Peggy wins?" We nodded. He wrote her full name down on the card to give Brown, then rolled his sleeves back up. "Okay, Let's go up." We walked back out, and spotted Brown center stage. Running up, we quickly handed him the card.

He read the name quickly, then smiled at us. "I knew you boys would make the right choice." Shane stayed up next to him, while Nate and I headed off stage to check our guitars for Final Jam Session.

-- -- --

The winner had been announced, Jam Session was over, and now it was time for the after party. Connie, the new cook, had pulled out all the stops, and Nate and I finally got to try the cookies Shane had been raving about all summer. He had invited Mitchie and her friends over, which included a lot of our old friends. We had gathered around one of the tables in the Mess Hall, and were joking and laughing as though Connect Three had never happened, and we were still campers.

Suddenly a small, shy voice from behind us spoke. "Um…Nate? Shane? Jason?" The three of us turned to see Peggy standing behind us, her hands folded in front of her, looking nervous.

"Hey Peggy." Shane said. "Sit down with us."

"Um, okay." She said. She seemed much less confident than she had been on stage, even when she was crying. I scooted down the bench and she sat down next to me, still wringing her hands gently. She chewed on her lip for a moment more, and I sympathized with her. She obviously needed to say something, but words were not coming easily.

"Wanna go outside for a minute?" I asked. She nodded, her dark eyes suddenly looking at me gratefully. Together we got up and headed out the door.

A breeze blew up from the lake as we walked, the silence not as repressing as I would have expected. I watched her dark hair dancing in the wind, mesmerized for a moment. She glanced back up at me suddenly, and our eyes met. She smiled gently, not breaking the gaze.

"Thank you." She said suddenly. Her voice had returned to the full, smooth sound it had been onstage, and when she bit her lip this time, it looked less stressed and more playful. "I meant to tell Shane and Nate too, but I couldn't get it out in there." She motioned towards the mess hall. "I honestly don't know why you guys picked me. I mean, 'Hasta La Vista' was spectacular. Tess was almost as perfect as normal, and Mitchie was just amazing. And I-"

"You were the best." I cut her off. She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Honestly, you were. The others were great too, but you have something else." The well of articulate words ran dry just then, and I was reduced to shaking my head. "You just were. You were…the underdog."

A sudden blaze of anger shot through her gaze, and she asked "Was that why I was chosen, because no one expected me?"

"No!" I corrected myself. "Well, a little. But that's why you are the underdog. Because you are amazing. I've never heard a girl sing like that. I've never heard a guy sing like that either. You are completely unheard of, and yet you are better than everyone else who people know. That's the true underdog, and you should be proud to be called that."

Her gaze softened slightly as she thought about it. "Honestly?" She asked once more.

My hands found hers, and I gave them a quick press. "Honestly."

She smiled, and then suddenly looked down. Even in the semidarkness I could see her blush. "Do you remember the summer we both started here?" She asked suddenly. I nodded, and her smile grew. "Want to know a secret?"

"Yes." I said softly.

"I had a crush on you then." She admitted, her blush glowing even deeper. "Because you were the one that nobody else had a crush on. I thought you were the reclusive, musical genius." She laughed lightly. "I was sort of right."

"I've got a secret too." I admitted. She looked up at me, her head tilted slightly to one side. "I still have a crush on you. Even after the Tess-Monster got you, you were the individual, the one who could still think a whole thought and the one that could be great, if she were only given the spotlight."

"Does that still make me the underdog?" She asked, moving just slightly closer.

"Totally." I said, kissing her.

-- -- --

When Peggy and I finally got back to the mess hall, Nate instantly noticed my expression and frowned. I knew his concern was only that I did something without asking him, so I ignored him, turning my attention to the plateful of cookies. Sooner or later, both him and Shane would catch up to me.

It turned out to be sooner. Not ten minutes later, Shane detangled himself from Mitchie and Nate left Caitlyn with Lola and the two were grabbing me by both arms and pulling me outside.

"What happened?" Nate asked as soon as the door closed.

"He met a girl, obviously." Shane rolled his eyes. He understood any matter concerning a girl better than Nate. "So, who is it?"

I looked at them, considered lying, and decided against it. "Peggy." I said.

Both Nate and Shane rolled their eyes. "The underdog."


End file.
